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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. HOOPER & N. S. KELLOGG. MACHINE FOR OURLING HAT BRIMS.

. Patented Oct. 26, 1886.

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(No Model.)

v 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. E. HOOPER & N. S. KELLOGG.

MACHINE FOR GURLING HAT BRIMS ,439. Patented Oct. 26. 1886.

(No Modl.) 3 SheetsS1 1e et s. E. HOOPER & N. S. KELLOGG.

MAGHINB FOR GURLING HAT BRIMS. I No. 351,439. Patented 001;. 26. 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Fr es.

EDIVIN HOOPER AND NORMAN S. KELLOGG, OF BROOKLYN, NEYV YORK.

MACHINE FOR CURLING HAT-BRIMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 351,439, dated October 26, 1886.

Application filed December 2, 1885. Serial No. 184,382.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, EDWIN HOOPER and NORMAN S. KELLOGG, of the city of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Curling Hat-Brims, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

I In the machines in common use for curling hat-brims the whole of the curl is taken in at once by folding or breaking in the edge abruptly to the full width of the curl, and the curl produced is very apt to be creased in some parts.

The principal object of this invention is to produce by a machine a curling action similar to that performed by hand, which consists in the gradual picking up and turning in of the felt from the edge of the brim in such manner that the edge is gradually shrunk to its necessarily reduced circumference withoufi'creasing or tendency to break.

In carrying out our invention we employ a revolving table for the support of the hat-brim, and reciprocating slides arranged on opposite sides of said table for carrying the curlingirons and pressing-irons, by which the curling is performed,resembling in a general way those in the machines in common use; but in order to produce the gradual turning and shrinking in of the brim, which is the principal object of our improvement, our invention consists in certain means, hereinafter described and claimed, of controlling the operation of the slides relatively to the revolving table.

Our invention also consists in certain improvements in the curling devices themselves, whereby their operation is rendered more perfeet, and in certain means of controlling the operation of the irons, all of which are hereinafter described and claimed.

Figure 1 in the drawings represents a front elevation, partly in section, of the principal parts of a brim-curling machine with our improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the same at right angles to Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a view of that face of the curling-iron represented in Fig. 1, which is presented vertically toward the axis of the shaft of the table. Fig. 5 is an inverted plan view of the curling-iron and its lip. Fig. dis a view of that face of the pressing-iron (No modcLl which is presented vertically toward the axis of the shaft of the table. Fig. 7 is a plan of the pressing-iron. Fig. 8 exhibits alongitudinal vertical section of the pressing-iron carriage and pressing-iron. Fig-9 is a vertical section of another form of curling-iron, and Fig. 10 is an inverted plan of the same. Fig. 11 is a plan of the cam which controls the action of the curling and pressing irons.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

A A A designate the framing of the machine, consisting of standards A A and a bedplate, A, on the opposite ends of which are firmly bolt-ed the two hollow bed-pieces B B, on which are fixed guides to (t, between which freely slide in line with each other the two carriages O c and O c, the former of which carries the curling-iron D and its appurtenances, and the latter of which carries the pressing-iron E. In the center of the framing is provided a bearing, a, (see Fig. 3,) for the up right shaft F, which derives constant rotary motion through bevel-gearingJ K from the horizontal main shaft L of the machine. To the upper end of the shaft F is secured the horizontal table G, on which the hat-body is placed for the curling operation. The said shaft is also furnished with a cam, I, of elliptical contour, corresponding with the contour of a hatbrim for producing a horizontal sliding movement of the carriages G c and O 0 toward and from the rotary table, the said cam acting upon followers (Z d, which are attached to slides H, which are arranged to slide horizontally and parallel with the carriages O c O c within the stationary bed-pieces B B. Only one of these slides H is shown in the drawings, (see Fig. 1,) that being sufficient for illustration. One of them is connected by a pin or tenon, e, with the bottom plate 0 of the curling-iron carriage G c, and the other is connected in a similar manner with the bottom plate 0 of the pressing-iron carriage O 0, each pin or tenon passing through a slot, f, in the bottom plate of its respective carriage. Springs S are applied within the bed pieces B, behind the slides II, for the purpose of pressing the latter toward the center of the machine.

The carriages O c and G c are each made of two parts-viz., a bottom plate, 0 or O, and

a body, a or c-'adjustable on the bottom plate toward and from the center of the machine, between ways I) I), provided in said plate by means of a toothed rack, g, fixed on said plate, and a pinion, h, on ashaft, 13, which works in bearings in the sides of the body a, and which is provided outside of the carriage with a hand-crank, j, by which to turn the said pinion for the purpose of adjusting the iron 0 or D nearer to or farther from the center of the machine, to suit hats of various sizes without interfering with the connection of the carriage with the slide H, and so without disturbing.

the action of the cam I on the said carriages and the irons.

The cam I is of varying contour from top to bottom, as is shown by the upward taper of its axial profile in Figs. 1 and 3, and by two ellipses in Fig. 11, of which the larger one indicates the contour of the lower part, and the smaller one the contour of the upper part. The contour of the lower part corresponds with the contour of the flat outer edge of the brim of the hat before the curling is commenced, and the contour of the upper part corresponds with that which the outer doubled or folded edge of the brim is to have when curled. The variation of the contour'is grad- V ual between these two extremes.

The follower d, belonging to the curlingiron, must be so connected with its respective horizontal slide E that it may travel up and down the axial profile of the cam, and for this purpose it is represented in Fig.- 1 as attached to or formed upon a slide, k, which is fitted to be capable of moving vertically in a guide in the said slide H. The said slide 70 has, initafemalescrew-thread, in which works an upright adjusting-screw, l, which is'confined vertically within a slot, m, in the bedplate A, butwhich is capable of being turned easily for the purpose of elevating and depressing the said follower d on the profile of the cam, and which is also free to move in the said slot m, to permit the movement of the slides H and toward and from the center of the cam. The said screw is furnished at its lower end with a finger-wheel, the fingers Z Z of which are within the sweep of a wiperpin, m, secured in the cam for the purpose of operating upon one of the said fingers during each revolution of the cam to produce the turning of the screw in a direction to raise the follower d on the face of the cam. The said finger-wheel also serves as a handle to the screw to turn it by hand.

The operation of the curling-iron by which it is made to gradually curl and shrink in the edge of the brim is'controlled by the varying contour of the cam I and the movement of the follower d of the curling-iron upward upon the profile of the cam. Before commencing the operation the follower d is brought by turning the screw Z by hand to a position opposite to the larger lower part of the cam, where the contour corresponds with that of the uncurled brim. The hat havingbeen prop erly placed and secured on the'table G, in the same'manner as in other curling-machines, and the curling-iron D and its appurtenances having been adjusted by the rack and pinion g h, according to the size of the hat, the machine is set in motion, when the cam gives the curlingiron carriage a reciprocating motion tocauses the curling-iron to work close to the edge of the brim. Once during each revolution of the table the wiper-pin m acts on one of the fingers Z Z of the wheel on the screw Z ward and from thecenter of the table, which 7 5 and gives the screw a portion of a revolution,

which raises the follower (I very slightly on the cam toward the smaller upper contgur thereof. This gradual rise of the follower and gradual approach thereof to the center of thecam at every revolution causes the curlingiron to creep very gradually inward, and so to turn in and curl the brim very gradually. This operation,which, commencing at the extreme edge of the brim, is regulated automatically within the machine itself without further manual adjustment after its commencement, produces the picking up and turning in of the whole circumference of the brima little at a timetill the brim is turned in far enough for the amount of curl required, such operation resembling the process of curling-brirns by hand and differing from that produced by the curling-machines heretofore used, in which the whole width of the curl is turned in at once. When the follower has moved up automatically, as hereinabove described, far enough to produce the desired width of curl, it may be run down again by turning the screw by hand to a position for commencing the curling of another hat.

The curling-iron D, which we have represented, and which we prefer to use, consists of a hollow block or box of cast-iron,with provision for being heated by a gas-burner, n, and having its lower part or sole and its inner face, whichis presented toward the hathas been in common use for many years in I curling brims by hand, and is well known to hatters. This iron is made with a dovetail tongue, 0*, on its back, as shown in Fig. 2, to 'drop into a dovetail recess on the part 0 of the carriage Co, for the purpose of attaching the said iron to said carriage. This iron has used in connection with it a lip, 1), (see Figs'sl, 4, 5, 9, 10,) which enters within the curl of the brim, as shown in Fig. 1, where a section of a portion of a curled hat-brim is represented by a strong black line. This lip is like a lip commonly attached to the hand curling-iron, just hereiubefore' mentioned; but instead of being, as inthe case of the hand curling-iron, attached to the iron itself, it is attached to the carriage O c by an arm, N, in such manner as to provide for a double adj ustmentthat is to say, an adjustment up and down and an adj ustment backward and forward toward and from the face of the iron- D--to adapt it to various thicknesses of hat-brims. The arm N, having the lip 1) attached, is pivoted by a pin, 0, between the cheeks of a little slide, q, which is fitted between ways 0' r on the top of the carriage, O c, and which is adjustable horizontally by a screw, it, which screws through a post, '15, on one of the ways 1' r and bears against a lug, q, on the slide q. The said slide has also applied to it a spiral spring, a, which tends to draw it back, and so draw back the lip 1) into the curling-groove o of the iron D as far as permitted by the adjusting-screw t, which serves to properly regulate the distance of the edge of the said lip from the opposite portion of the curling-groove, according to the thickness of the felt in the hat-brim, the spring allowing the lip to yield to any extra thick place in the brim. The arm N is also fitted with an upright adjusting screw, 25, which bears on the carriage q for the purpose of adjusting the lip p higher or lower, to suit the thickness of the hat-bri m.

The attachment of the lip p in the manner described provides for its being easily withdrawn from the curl preparatory to the ironing down of the latter bythe iron E, which we do not put in operation till after the curling has been completed. The withdrawal of the lip is effected by simply taking hold of the knob t on the arm N and moving the said arm alittle way toward the center of the table, after which the arm N and the lip can be thrown back over the carriage, where they may remain during the pressing operation.

The difference between the curling-iron shown in Figs. 1, 4, and 5 and that shown in Figs. 9 and 10 is merely one of form, the former being adapted for a fiat curl and the latter for a round curl. A pressing-iron is used in connection with the curlingiron shown in Figs. 1, l, and 5, but is unnecessary with that shown in Figs. 9 and 10.

The pressing-iron E consists, as in othercnrling and ironing machines, of a box or hollow block heated by a gas-burner, a. The said iron is provided with a dovetail tongue, 0*, on its back to fit in a corresponding groove in the part c of its carriage O r, and it has applied to it within the said carriage a spring, I, by which to produce the pressure requisite for ironing the curled brim. The said dovetail tongue is mortised to receive an anti-friction roller, w, which is pivotedinto the said tongue to serve as a bearing for the end of a small hand-lcver, Q, which works on a fulcrum, 1, in the carriage C r, for the purpose of lifting up the iron E to such a height as to be inoperative, in which position it is held during the curling operation until after the completion of the turning in of the curl by means of a small springbolt, in", which works through the front of the carriage and enters a hole in the said iron. Between the handlever Q and the spring-bolt there is pivoted on the top of the carriage, by apin, e0 asmall elbow-lever, 10, one arm of which is in front of the head of the springbolt w", and the other arm of which bears against the side of the hand-lever, so that when the handle of the said lever is moved forward to lower the pressing-iron its first operation is to push aside the said elbow-lever, and so draw back the springbolt w", to liberate the iron. After the ironing down of the curl of the brim the iron E is raised by simply throwing back the handlever until the spring-bolt slips into the hole provided for it in the iron and looks it up.

The follower d of the pressing-iron carriage C a may have applied to it the same mechanism of raising and lowering it on the profile of the cam I as has been described with reference to the follower (l of the curling-iron carriage; but we have not thought it necessary to duplicate the representation ofthat mechanism.

lVhat we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination, with the reciprocating curlingiron carriage and the rotary table, of a cam of varying contour to rotate with said table, a follower connected with said carriage to be operated on by said cam, and mechanism for producing a gradual automatic movement of the follower on the varying contour of the cam, substantially as herein described, for producing the gradual picking up and turning in of the brim, as herein set forth.

2. The combination, with the reciprocating curling-iron or pressing-iron carriage and the rotary table and its shaft, of a cam of varying contour on the said shaft, a follower movably attached to said carriage, a screw for moving said follower relatively to said carriage and to the said cam, and a wiper carried by said shaft for turning said screw, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

3. The combination, with the curling-iron and its carriage, of the slide g, attached arm N, and curling-lip p, and the adj usting-screw I, and spring it, applied to said slide, substantially as herein described, for the purpose set forth.

4-. The combination, with the pressing-iron carriage, of the pressing-iron fitted to move upward and downward relatively to said carriage, and a pressure-spring applied between said iron and carriage, substantially as herein described.

5. The combination, with the pressing-iron and its carriage, of the lifting-lever Q, the locking-bolt 10", and a connection, substantially as herein described, between said lever and bolt for withdrawing said bolt by the lifting-lever, substantially as herein set forth.

EDWVIN HOOPER. NORMAN S. KELLOGG. Vitnesscs:

FREDK. HAYNns, EMIL HERTER. 

